Combination perpendicular record and reproduce head having an auxiliary pole recessed from an air bearing surface and spaced from one of a pair of reproducing element sheilds

Abstract

A magnetic recording apparatus has a two-layered medium of a soft magnetic backing layer and a perpendicular recording layer, and a perpendicular recording head having a recording section including a main magnetic pole, an auxiliary magnetic pole and an exciting coil, and a reproducing section including a reproducing element sandwiched between a pair of reproducing shields, the reproducing section and the recording section being formed separately from each other. The auxiliary magnetic pole is recessed from the air-bearing surface of the main magnetic pole, and the distance between the auxiliary magnetic pole and the reproducing shield positioned adjacent to the auxiliary magnetic pole is set to permit a magnetic field generated under the auxiliary magnetic pole to be larger than a magnetic field under the shield.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A recording/reproducing head comprising: 
       a main magnetic pole;  
       an auxiliary magnetic pole provided to face the main magnetic pole with a gap therebetween and recessed from an air-bearing surface of the main magnetic pole;  
       an exciting coil;  
       a reproducing element;  
       a pair of reproducing shields sandwiching the reproducing element, one of the reproducing shields adjacent to the auxiliary magnetic pole being positioned apart from the auxiliary magnetic pole by such a distance that a magnetic field generated in recording under the auxiliary magnetic pole becomes larger than a magnetic field under the reproducing shield.  
     
     
       2. The head according to  claim 1 , wherein the distance L between the auxiliary magnetic pole and the reproducing shield adjacent to the auxiliary magnetic pole is set to meet the relationship in the following formula: 
       
         
             L>D ·S 1 /S 3   
         
       
       where D represents a recessed distance of the auxiliary magnetic pole from the air-bearing surface, S 1  represents an overlapping area between the auxiliary magnetic pole and the reproducing shield, and S 3  represents an air-bearing area of the reproducing shield.  
     
     
       3. The head according to  claim 1 , wherein an air-bearing portion of the main magnetic pole is made of a material having a high saturation flux density. 
     
     
       4. The head according to  claim 1 , wherein the reproducing element is a giant magnetoresistive element. 
     
     
       5. A magnetic recording apparatus, comprising: 
       a two-layered medium comprising a soft magnetic backing layer and a perpendicular recording layer; and  
       a recording head comprising a main magnetic pole, an auxiliary magnetic pole provided to face the main magnetic pole with a gap therebetween and recessed from an air-bearing surface against said medium of the main magnetic pole, an exciting coil, a reproducing element, a pair of reproducing shields sandwiching the reproducing element, one of the reproducing shields adjacent to the auxiliary magnetic pole being positioned apart from the auxiliary magnetic pole by such a distance that a magnetic field generated in recording under the auxiliary magnetic pole becomes larger than a magnetic field under the reproducing shield.  
     
     
       6. The apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein the distance L between the auxiliary magnetic pole and the reproducing shield adjacent to the auxiliary magnetic pole is set to meet the relationship in the following formula: 
       
         
             L>D ·S 1 /S 3   
         
       
       where D represents a recessed distance of the auxiliary magnetic pole from the air-bearing surface, S 1  represents an overlapping area between the auxiliary magnetic pole and the reproducing shield, and S 3  represents an air-bearing area of the reproducing shield.  
     
     
       7. The apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein an air-bearing portion of the main magnetic pole is made of a material having a high saturation flux density. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein the reproducing element is a giant magnetoresistive element. 
     
     
       9. A magnetic recording apparatus, comprising: 
       a two-layered medium comprising a soft magnetic backing layer and a perpendicular recording layer, the perpendicular recording layer showing a magnetization curve in which a point at which irreversible magnetic reversal begins to take place resides in the second quadrant and an absolute value of a magnetic field corresponding to an intersection between a tangential line of the magnetization curve drawn from a point of coercive force in a region where an applied magnetic field is negative and a straight line drawn in a horizontal direction from a point of residual magnetization is greater than a magnetic field generated in recording under the auxiliary magnetic pole; and  
       a recording head comprising a main magnetic pole, an auxiliary magnetic pole provided to face the main magnetic pole with a gap therebetween and recessed from an air-bearing surface against said medium of the main magnetic pole, and exciting coil, a reproducing element, a pair of reproducing shields sandwiching the reproducing element, one of the reproducing shields adjacent to the auxiliary magnetic pole being positioned apart from the auxiliary magnetic pole by such a distance that a magnetic field generated in recording under the auxiliary magnetic pole becomes larger than a magnetic field under the reproducing shield.